
The “Boost” version of Gate Opener Alice from the Queen’s Gate / Queen’s Blade series has just been released – “Boost” in this case meaning a mega oppai form as opposed to her previous petanko loli version.
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This maniacal otaku bought no less than five of the newly released 1/7 scale 八神はやて / Yagami Hayate figures, each in the region of ¥10,000, marking him out as an otaku’s otaku indeed. Stacked, the boxes reach a height of some 2m. Is he perhaps trying to communicate something?
Observers are speculating as to just what he needs five of them for; one to admire, one to save, one to show off, and… ?
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Haruka Takamori, ero-ninja heroine of Alicesoft eroge 超昂閃忍ハルカ/ Choukou-Sennin Haruka / Beat Blades Haruka, received this rather enticing figure adaptation, which as you can see attempts to combine the twin pleasures of pantsu and weapons:
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Queen’s Blade & Queen’s Gate and the general phenomenon of “game” books seem to be picking up steam lately, but one area in which they have been strong for a while now is in excellent figure adaptations; here is one of the latest, catching my eye admittedly due to flatness, but also due to some rather strikingly executed design. Behold, the One who Opens the Gate: Alice.
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Persona fans, amongst whose numbers I can happily count myself, can rejoice at the sight of the latest, and most splendid, figure incarnation of 桐条美鶴 / Mitsuru Kirijo; see more detail below (just pretend the overendowed and overexposed figure in the background isn’t there). This is also a good opportunity to look at some of the others on offer.
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There is a very interesting and detailed article on the figure and otaku scene in China (specifically Shanghai), as well as how Japanese companies operate there, over at Nikkei (onerous registration required to read it all), brought to my attention via foo-bar-baz. The interview with Alter’s China office is especially interesting. Surprisingly, it is not a market completely awash with fakes, and seems to be growing healthily. I provide a summary translation below for your information and enjoyment.
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